History Main / BeginWithAFinisher

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': Chapter 3 of the Story Mode has Liu Kang and Kung Lao face off against [[TheDragon Geras]], who is stealing from the Jinsei (the life energy of Earthrealm). When Geras states that [[TimeMaster Kron]][[BigBad ika]] intends to use it to [[CosmicRetcon remake history]], Kung Lao responds by [[WeaponizedHeadgear throwing his hat at him]], [[OffWithHisHead chopping his head off]], and catching it, complete with him wiping his hat off with two fingers and smirking.

* Mike Tyson (or [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Mr Dream]]) infamously opens his fight in ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' with his most powerful attack: ''[[NoKillLikeOverkill 90 seconds]]'' of nothing but OneHitKill uppercuts. If you avoid them all, he'll switch to fighting you more traditionally, but he'll still pepper in the uppercut.

--> ''"Huh. Always wondered why people never use their strongest attack first."''

* The combat system introduced in the third edition of ''TabletopGame/Exalted'' can make this a fully-viable option, though not without risk. A Dawn Caste Solar who does well on their Join Battle roll could opening with Thunderbolt Attack Prana (a Charm that both lets you close the gap to your opponent and then double the damage on a decisive attack) and a bunch of combat Charms and either kill their target outright or leave them so badly injured that their wound penalties will leave them on the defensive for the rest of the fight. Or they'll miss with the attack, waste the Essence they used to fuel it, and lose a chunk of initiative because they missed a decisive attack.

This is when a character uses the strongest attack they know against their opponent at the beginning of a fight, which either results in [[CurbStompBattle the victim being outright destroyed]], the striker painfully realizing that ''this'' opponent [[SoLastSeason is much more powerful]] or, in rare instances, the victim taking the loss to lower the striker's guard for a later encounter.

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': Chapter 3 of the Story Mode has Liu Kang and Kung Lao face off against [[TheDragon Geras]], who is stealing from the Jinsei (the life energy of Earthrealm). When Geras states that [[BigBad Kronika]] intends to use it to [[TimeMaster remake history]], Kung Lao responds by [[WeaponizedHeadgear throwing his hat at him]], [[OffWithHisHead chopping his head off]], and catching it, complete with him wiping his hat off with two fingers and smirking.

** 'Alpha 3'' is the first game in the series where the fighters begin a 1-on-1 match with the Super Combo Gauge full (translating to 3 bars of super meter), which allows players to whip out a LEVEL 3 SUPER as their first move. This includes [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu]].

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': Chapter 3 of story mode has Liu Kang and Kung Lao face off against Geras, who is stealing from the Jinsi. When Geras states that Kronika intends to use it to remake history, Kung Lao responds by [[WeaponizedHeadgear throwing his hat at him]], [[OffWithHisHead chopping his head off]], and catching it, complete with him wiping his hat off with two fingers and smirking.

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha 3'' is the first game of the series where the fighters can start with the full powerbar (that means, 3 bars to use) at the beginning of every fight (but not every round), which allows players to start their first move with a LEVEL 3 SUPER, and that includes [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu]].

* Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin had this fame especially in battles with many enemies (like a ring full of wrestlers hitting each other) as well in chats with other wrestlers in the ring and ''specifically'' with [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon Mr. McMahon]], in which his first move is noneless than his [[FinishingMove Stone Cold Stunner]].

SubTrope of ForMassiveDamage. Compare CurbStompBattle, where the opponent doesn't really need to use their best attack all the time to kick someone out of the atmosphere. Related to TheWorfEffect and TheWorfBarrage. NoSell is what happens when any attack fails to work on the other guy.

This is when a character uses the strongest attack they know against their opponent at the beginning of a fight, which either results in [[CurbStompBattle the victim being outright destroyed]], the striker painfully realizing that ''this'' opponent [[SoLastSeason is much more powerful]] or, in rare instances, the victim taking the L to lower the striker's guard for a later encounter. In Anime, this is either one of the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome coolest things]] you'll ever see or an {{Epic Fail}}ure to kill the opponent. The latter case might be one of the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments most hilarious parts]] of the show... unless it's PlayedForDrama. VideoGames can have this if the player saves their best attack for an incoming boss battle, and then uses it straight away; an enemy might also use this tactic, in which case it often overlaps with PressXToNotDie.

* A SquashMatch is one that consists of a single finishing move, with neither wrestler performing any other move in the match.

* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter'': After unlocking Ryu's D-Dive, it's possible to go dragon mode on the first turn and annihilate any enemy with his [[KameHameHadoken D-Breath]]... but doing so isn't recommended since if Ryu's D-Counter reaches 100% it's game-over.

This is when a character uses the strongest attack they know against their opponent at the beginning of a fight, which either results in [[CurbStompBattle the victim being outright destroyed]], the striker painfully realizing that ''this'' opponent is much more powerful or, in rare instances, the victim taking the L to lower the striker's guard for a later encounter. In Anime, this is either one of the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome coolest things]] you'll ever see or an {{Epic Fail}}ure to kill the opponent. The latter case might be one of the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments most hilarious parts]] of the show... unless it's PlayedForDrama. VideoGames can have this if the player saves their best attack for an incoming boss battle, and then uses it straight away; an enemy might also use this tactic, in which case it often overlaps with PressXToNotDie.

This is when a character uses the strongest attack they know against their opponent at the beginning of a fight, which either results in [[CurbStompBattle the other guy getting smashed into tiny little pieces]], or the striker painfully realizing that ''this'' opponent is much more powerful. In Anime, this is either one of the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome coolest things]] you'll ever see or an {{Epic Fail}}ure to kill the opponent. The latter case might be one of the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments most hilarious parts]] of the show... unless it's PlayedForDrama. VideoGames can have this if the player saves their best attack for an incoming boss battle, and then uses it straight away; an enemy might also use this tactic, in which case it often overlaps with PressXToNotDie.

->''"(Kung Lao [[WeaponizedHeadgear throws his hat]]) Ok, I'm gonna pick, I'm gonna pick Liu Kang. ([[RealityEnsues Kung Lao's hat chops off]] [[OffWithHisHead Geras's head]]) [[BigWhat What?!]] Hold up, it didn't even say finish him or nothing! He just did a fatality like that? That's against the rules!"''
-->-- '''[[LetsPlay/DashieGames Dashie]]''', ''[[https://youtu.be/f9KQE_bfvqI?t=944 LIU KANG AND KUNG LAO BOUT TO DROP THAT MIXTAPE! [MK11] #03]]''

* VideoGame/MortalKombat11: Chapter 3 of story mode has Liu Kang and Kung Lao face off against Geras, who is stealing from the Jinsi. When Geras states that Kronika intends to use it to remake history, Kung Lao responds by [[WeaponizedHeadgear throwing his hat at him]], [[OffWithHisHead chopping his head off]], and catching it, complete with him wiping his hat off with two fingers and smirking.
->'''Kung Lao:''' [[TemptingFate That was easy.]]\\
([[ResurrectiveImmortality Cue Geras's head turning into sand and reforming onto his body]])\\

This is when a character uses the strongest attack they know against their opponent at the beginning of a fight, which either results in [[CurbStompBattle the other guy getting smashed into tiny little pieces]], or the striker painfully realizing ''this'' opponent is much more powerful. In Anime, this is either one of the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome coolest things]] you'll ever see or an {{Epic Fail}}ure to kill the opponent. The latter case might be one of the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments most hilarious parts]] of the show... unless it's PlayedForDrama. VideoGames can have this if the player saves their best attack for an incoming boss battle, and then uses it straight away; an enemy might also use this tactic, in which case it often overlaps with PressXToNotDie.

* In ''Literature/TheArchonate'' novel ''Majestrum'', we see a flashback to a wizards' duel where one combatant begins by attacking with everything he's got, [[NoSell and doesn't have the slightest effect.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* {{Defied|Trope}} in ''{{Film/Soldier}}'' after Captain Church says they should just NukeEm From Orbit. "My daddy always said, 'When you want to insert a nail into a piece of wood, don't do anything fancy or glamorous. Just take the damn hammer and hit the son of a bitch until it's in.'" He's overruled by a pompous Colonel who wants to use his new genetically modified soldiers, which leads to the deaths of the soldiers, the Colonel, and the Captain.

* ''Literature/EndersGame'': This is Ender's primary philosophy when it comes to fighting (and warfare): overwhelming shock & awe. Basically, thoroughly and ''savagely'' attack your enemy to the point where they never attempt any kind of retaliation out of outright fear.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In the ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' related "Cell vs." videos (where BigBad Cell is challenged by various anime and video game characters in the week leading up to his duel with [[IdiotHero Goku]] to decide the fate of the world), [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ken Masters]] attempts to pull this when he fights Cell. As soon as the bout begins, Ken launches into his super combo... and due to the unimaginable difference in power, Cell effortlessly parries every blow as soon as Ken goes to throw it. And then turns Ken into ATwinkleInTheSky with a punch that is probably a love tap for Cell.

** A moment later, when Vanko arrives, Rhodey decides to use his most powerful weapon immediately: the bunker buster missile "the Ex-Wife". [[spoiler:It completely fails.]]
* {{Defied|Trope}} in ''{{Film/Soldier}}'' after Captain Church says they should just NukeEm From Orbit. "My daddy always said, 'When you want to insert a nail into a piece of wood, don't do anything fancy or glamorous. Just take the damn hammer and hit the son of a bitch until it's in.'" He's overruled by a pompus Colonel who wants to use his new genetically modified soldiers, which leads to the deaths of the soldiers, the Colonel, and the Captain.

This is when a character uses the strongest attack they know against their opponent at the beginning of a fight, which usually results in [[CurbStompBattle the other guy getting smashed into tiny little pieces]]. In Anime, this is either one of the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome coolest things]] you'll ever see or an {{Epic Fail}}ure to kill the opponent. The latter case might be one of the [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments most hilarious parts]] of the show... unless it's PlayedForDrama. VideoGames can have this if the player saves their best attack for an incoming boss battle, and then uses it straight away; an enemy might also use this tactic, in which case it often overlaps with PressXToNotDie.

** Forbidden by the mechanics of FunctionalMagic for the title character: her most powerful SignatureMove only works after a considerable number of magical blows have already been exchanged in the airspace.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', Eclipsa opens her fight against a Solarian Warrior with Black Velvet Inferno, the same spell that instantly took down Meteora, the BigBad of the previous season. Unfortunately, it harmlessly pings off the Solarian's armor.